


(Not) For Real

by bellinhasf



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Captain Swan AU - Freeform, Eventual Romance, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Green Card Marriage, In Vegas, eventually fall in love, starts with them drunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2018-10-23 16:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10722777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellinhasf/pseuds/bellinhasf
Summary: Emma's life changes dramatically when she meets an Irish guy at a bar one night, and their drunken actions, one in particular -getting married- finds itself the root of their relationship. For whatever time it may take, Emma will pretend to be married to this once stranger, but after a while, her emotions start to get cloudy towards him, and she suspects his do too. Will they ever get together? Yeah, I mean, we've read hundreds of stories just like this, we all know they get together! Eventually! For real! :)





	1. Chapter 1

When she finally blinked her eyes open, Emma Swan was met by an unfamiliar texture to the ceiling above her, and an unfamiliar smell that seemed to surround her - the smell of the sea, of when the day spent by the beach lingers on the skin; a faint smell of leather combined with something heady and raw, she couldn't quite put her finger on, and she thought that she definitely, definitely could drown herself in that smell. So, like an instinct, she pulled the covers up, inhaling deeply, indulging the sweet scent. The warmth that radiated under the cocoon of blankets along with that smell was making her brain feel mellow and weak, until she heard subtle sounds of someone moving about outside of the room. All of a sudden, a flood of memories started to make their way through her brain, making her remember what had happened the night before, why the ceiling looked so different from the one in her bedroom, and why the blankets smelled like heaven. 

Saturday night, she had just missed the guy she was chasing, _rookie mistake_ , she thought, _and no getting paid_. She often wondered why bad things happened to her, but this week had been a nightmare!  
First, her favourite diner was closed, for two days! TWO FREAKING DAYS!! The owner, a lovely yet very strict lady that insisted that Emma called her Granny, was out of town, attending her granddaughters wedding, and so her supply of grilled cheese had been cut short. Second, her son was on vacation, and even though his stepmother had agreed to share him for the time being, she decided last minute to take him and her new boyfriend and his son away, for 2 whole weeks! Emma could do nothing about it, the woman was being nice enough to share custody with after her son found her, and she was glad about it, but even so, she didn't spend as much time with him as she wished she could, and she missed so much of his life she didn't like missing more now that she had the opportunity not to! And to top it all up, she had just lost her chance at catching the guy she had been spying on for the last week and a half, she was so close, and wanted to be done with it already that she rushed things, and in doing so, lost him! Damn it!

  
She needed a drink, and so she went in the first bar she came across, sat down at the counter and ordered a beer, and a shot of tequila, which was down in one swift move. Time went on, one beer turned into two, then into three.  
Next to her sat this guy, all she could make out was his messy black hair and his black leather jacket, since he was staring so deeply into his glass, she thought he could been having a worse day than she, if that was possible! She didn't realise she was staring until his bright blue eyes met hers and he gave her a weak smile, then dunked the remaining of his glass into his mouth at once and asked the bartender for another drink. When he looked at her she got a bit disorientated, _WOW_! Those eyes! She was mesmerised, and wondered what his story was. She tried to read him, she was good at that, being a bails-bond person and all, but for some reason all she got was he might actually have had a worse day than me! She wasn't one to talk to strangers often, or one to talk to anyone often, but he intrigued her, so she decided it couldn't hurt.  
He stared at the newly filled glass the bartender had just placed in front of him for a moment, then gulped it all in one, and was about to ask for another when he was interrupted.  
"By the way you were staring at it I thought it would catch into flames." _God Emma, that was a stupid thing to say!_ She thought, after her thought came out aloud.  
"Huh?! " He turned to her, "Yeah, not a wizard though, although that would make life more fun."  
She did not expect the accent that came out of his mouth, I mean, the man had hair you craved to run your fingers through, eyes that made your brain melt, and now an accent?!? She honestly didn't know what do to next, or what to say, so she just stared at him with her mouth slightly open in surprise.  
And then he smiled, not the weak smile he gave just moments before, no, a proper smug-ish smile.  
"What is it love? My accent too hard to understand or did the cat get your tongue?”  
Emma just shook her head, trying to think of something to say instead of looking like a dummy. “No, sorry, I just didn't expect that to come out of your mouth.” Jesus Christ Emma, what is wrong with you? I swear this is the last drink for tonight. Her inner voice was something that got more and more accentuate the more her alcohol level rose, and her promises of last drinks never stuck!  
“What? Words?” he asked her, while motioning for the bartender to get him another drink.  
“Uhm, no, not words, just words like that,” immediately after she finished her sentenced she regretted it! She was definitely on her way to drunkenness, and was at the stage of incoherent phrases. Next up was inappropriate comments…  
“Not that the words are wrong, they're just not the same,” the mysterious man looked at her puzzled, “as mine, for example.” She had no clue why she kept going, she had embarrassed herself enough.  
“Yes, where I came from we call that an accent.” He told her, amused.  
“Imma kinda drunk, so apologies for my way of speech.” She informed the man. “Where are you from?” She asked him, shifting her stool closer to his.  
“Ireland, shitty, shitty Ireland.”  
“What has Ireland done to you my man?” She asked him in a playful tone.  
“Nothing” he whispered into his glass, before taking a gulp.  
“Ohhh, I bet it wasn't nothing!” She was giggling now, which was the gateway into the next drunkenness level. She asked for another shot before asking him:  
“ ’s that why you’re drinking your life away, cos Ireland fucked you over?”  
The dude looked at her, gulped the rest of his drink and answered, kinda furious:  
“No, I’m drinking my life away cos I have to go back to that goddam fucking country!” before he slapped down some money on the counter, stood up and marched out the door.  
Emma was left looking dumbstruck, she was drunk but she was still aware of what was happening around her, and wondered if she had gone too far. She ordered a glass of water, downed it, closed her tab and went outside to look for mysterious accent guy.  
She spotted him, standing lifeless in the middle of the parking lot, looking away to the bar’s electric bright sign lights, which were reflecting on his back, the black leather engulfed in dancing bright lights.  
“Hey,” she made her way to him, “I didn’t mean to be mean,” she thought about what she had said for a sec, “rude! I didn't mean to be rude, or mean, or whatever.”  
Accent guy turned to face her, “Not your fault, you’re not the one getting deported or the one who decided to deport me.” He told her, clenching his fists.  
“Oh, sorry, I didn't know.” She felt bad, he was definitely, undoubtedly having a worse day than she was, and even though she didn't know why he hated his country so much, being deported was not something anyone would be pleased with.  
“Don’t worry about it, not your problem.” He told her, “You can go back to drinking YOUR life away now.” He said then, gesturing his hand towards the bar doors.  
“Wanna join me? I’m paying.” What’s the harm? she thought, least I could do.  
So they went back in, she bought them another few rounds of beer alongside various shots of different beverages (key to getting even more drunk!), while they just sat there, neither wanting to start a conversation. Although, some things were shared:  
“When d’you have to go back?”  
“In two weeks time.”  
“Ireland can’t be that bad.”  
“For me it is, that’s why I left.”  
“Why you getting deported?”  
“Visa expired, instead of applying for a renewal, got fired from my job.”

Emma felt bad for this guy, he seemed to be a decent person, she couldn't exactly read him but she didn't get a bad vibe off him either, and she couldn't imagine what reason he had for hating his country, but he did, and he HAD to go back there. She didn't even think twice before she asked him:  
“Anything you wish you’ve done before you go back?”  
He just looked at her lost.  
“Like, bucket list kinda shit?”  
He was still not sure where she was going with this, but answered anyway.  
“Las Vegas.”  
“Visit? Drive by? See from above or afar?” She questioned him.  
“Visit, visit Las Vegas.”  
Emma stood up and went to a corner of the now mostly empty bar, got her phone out and dialled someone.  
Accent man couldn't hear what she was saying, or what she was planning, but he had a feeling it included him.  
“Two bottles of champagne and one of rum.” She instructed the bartender, payed for everything and handing the stranger one of the champagne bottles.  
He was bewildered. Had absolutely no idea what she was doing when she dragged him outside by his jacket. Every time he opened his mouth to ask her she would just tell him to shush.  
A taxi stopped in front of them on the curb some time later, “Get in,” she instructed the guy.  
“You’re kidnapping me, of course! Why didn't I see this coming?” He mumbled while getting in the back seat of the cab.  
“Not kidnapping Irish, we’re just going for a ride.” She told him, while getting in next to him.

He had no idea where they were going, unlike the cab driver, who didn't say a word to either of them for the whole drive.  
They were in the backseat of the taxi for a total of 4 hours, in those four hours, each finished a bottle of champagne, and together took sips out of the rum. The stranger tried asking Emma where they were going, but every time he did, she just told him to shush. They were becoming more and more drunk, laughing at things they saw out the window, traffic lights and other cars, while telling each other what those things looked like to them. By hour 3, they were so drunk that they started making out, Emma straddling him, lips and tongues everywhere.  
When they finally arrived at their destination, Emma said a quick “Thanks Leroy, I owe you.” quite incoherently to the driver before turning to the stranger:  
“Welcome, Irish, to Las Vegas!”


	2. Chapter 2

And that was the last thing she remembered…

Not that detailed, but still.

She had no memory of what happened in Vegas, she didn't know if she was still in Vegas or not, and if not where was she and how did she get there?

By her lack of answers to her own questions she deduced that she got waaaaaay too drunk on the cab drive over, and swore to herself she would never, ever drink that much again (not that this was the first time she made that promise to herself!)

Wherever she was, she decided she needed to get out of there, as soon as possible. She kicked the covers away from her, was so, so glad to see she still had all her clothes on, and got up on a flash, but fell back again on the bed.

“Ah shit” she mumbled to herself, referring to her headache. She gave herself some time before getting up again, fishing her phone up from the floor with her toes before looking around for her shoes, putting them on and exiting the room.

This was one of those places where the door to all rooms led to the most social one, the living room and kitchen combo. So when she exited the bedroom, she was faced with a very bright, very occupied living room.

The Irish stranger from the night before was sitting on the sofa, still, only moving his head around to the noise the door made.

“Good morning.” He said to Emma, in a hushed voice. She just stood there, paralysed. “I’m gonna be honest with you,” he started, while standing up and heading to the kitchen, “About last night, I can remember up to a point, then, all blank.” He directed towards her before snatching up things to make coffee. The Irish man’s familiarity with the kitchen gave Emma the impression he’d been there before, but she didn't make a move or a sound. “Please, sit” he asked her, pointing to the counter in front of him.

She went over, slowly, taking in the place, and sat on a stool facing the yet still stranger. “This is my apartment, just in case you were wondering.” He told her, and turned around once more to check on the coffee. “Ughhh” she let out, while burying her face in her hands. “Oh my god” her hands muffling her voice, “Did we-” she looked up at him wide eyed.

“No, no, we didn’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“At least I don't think we did.”

“Oh my god!” she then buried her face in her hands again.

The stranger put a mug filled with coffee in front of Emma, the smell making her want to throw up. She lifted her head once more and pushed the mug away from her.

“Not a fan of coffee?” he asked her.

“Not when I’m this hangover.” She told him. “Can I have a glass of water though?” she then asked. “Sure” he answered, before filling a glass up and handing it to her. He then proceeded to fiddle for something on one of the drawers, before putting two pills in front of Emma, and swallowing two of the same himself.

“Aspirin” he stated.

She took the aspirin, then both stayed there, in silence, occasionally taking sips of their beverages, not knowing what to do next, until a bleeping sound started blaring through something and both moaned and went to cover their ears simultaneously.

The stranger nearly tipped his mug over hunting down where the blasted sound was coming from. “ **Aaaahhhhhh** **THIS BLOODY PHONE**!” He then shouted from the back of the sofa, turning off the sound, relieving his and Emma’s headaches.

“Bloody alarm,” he mumbled, getting back to the kitchen. He put his phone down next to his mug and stared at it, then looked at Emma.

“What?” she asked him.

“‘ _time to remerebr best nihg of life_ ’ is the name of the alarm.” he told her, holding his phone up to her.

“Oh god.” she exclaimed again, taking her phone from her pocket. She opened her photos and there it was.

At least 50 videos and photos from the night before, she scrolled though them, having trouble believing what stupidity she could have possibly done. She showed the guy her phone, and he showed her his, same thing, although his seemed to have a lot more evidence than hers. “Well, wanna know what happened last night?” he asked her. “No.” she told him, banging her forehead lightly on the counter a few times, “But we have to.”

The strangers phone connected to the tv, both sitting on opposite ends of the sofa, he pressed play on the first video and she prepared herself for the worst.

“Nice phone Irish” Emma said before dropping the thing to the ground, picking it up and zooming the camera on his crotch.

They stumbled their way inside a casino, ordered a few more drinks and paraded around the place, drinks in hand, trying not to fall over, commenting on other peoples games, nearly getting into fights due to those comments, sitting down where they shouldn’t, before coming to a halt at a machine game. The stranger sat at the machine, while Emma documented everything with his phone, and occasionally with her own. He pulled the lever and the machine made some sounds, and like 5 coins came out of it, but because of the state they were in, she started jumping around shouting “We’re rich Irish!” at him, while he just looked at the coins in front of him trying to count them.

That scene repeated itself with **7** different playing machines, before they ran out of coins. Yet, Emma still insisted they were rich, and kept telling everyone they passed by “We’re rich” and “This is my man Irish and we’re rich” while shoving his phone in their faces as “I need to remember your reaction when I tell you we’re rich.”

Many pissed off people later, and new drinks in hand, both could be found sitting down.

Emma was still latched on the strangers phone, this time recording his face, zooming in and out while telling him: “You have a nice face Irish.” “Look at me.” “Christ the camera doesn't do justice to your perfect eyes.”, and he would tell her: “Your face is more than nice too.” “I’ll look at you if you look at me.” “You’re perfect”.

Some time later, in amidst of giggle fits and plastered kisses, a guy dressed as Elvis walked in behind them, causing them to literally lose their marbles over his hair, and not letting the guy speak since their laughter was so loud.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m Elvis, now, the two of you gonna get married or you’re gonna bug off my chapel?” He asked them furious.

They just looked at each other. “ **WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!** ” Emma then shouted at the top of her lungs, and before the stranger could say anything, Elvis uttered at them: “10 minutes, be ready.” And walked off.

The stranger just looked at Emma, who was smiling, phone still in hand, not focusing on anything, but still recording.


	3. Chapter 3

Neither knew how to react.

2 pairs of wide eyes staring at the blank TV in front of them.

“We didn’t-” the stranger began.  
“What if we did?” Emma then let out.  
“No, we couldn't have, they wouldn’t let us, we were way too drunk for anything to be legal.” He sounded desperate, like he was reassuring himself as well as Emma that they couldn't possibly have gotten married.  
“I dunno, anything can happen in Vegas.” She told him.

Neither dared take their eyes off the tv, neither even glanced at the other.

“There are more videos? Please tell me there’s more.” She asked, desperate.  
He looked at his phone, “Yeah, there’s a couple more,” he clicked on one, “ _If_ we did, it couldn't have been for real could it?” he asked, before pressing play.

 

“This is for real right? We’ll be married for real after this won’t we?” Emma asked Elvis, standing in front of him, stranger next to her.  
“Yes, after this you will be man and wife, for real, no take backs,” he told them, “unless you get divorced.” he then whispered.

Apparently, they had talked, and Emma thought it would be a great idea.

“Irish, listen to me, you’re getting deported back to Irish land, solution? Marry an American me!” she told him, all excited. “It’s a win-win situation! You get to stay here and I get to tell people my husband is hotter than theirs.”  
“I don’t thinks a good idea.” he told her, “What if we get caught?” he then whispered, looking around, making sure Elvis was out of ear shot.  
“We won’t, no one knows, just us.” She told him. “And besides, we kissed a lot already, all we have to do is say I do and kiss again.”  
“Fuck Ireland!” he shouted.  
“Fuck Ireland” she then shouted back.  
He kissed her again, “Let’s get married!”

“Oi, you, little man in white,” the stranger addressed a guy dressed as a cupid, “Here’s my phone,” he gave the cupid his phone, “It’s remembering this, make sure you get us in it, we need proof of us getting married.”  
“Good idea husband!” Emma told him, all excited. “Here, little man, here’s my phone too, now we have double the evidence.”  
“Okay!” Elvis started, “We’re gonna do this? I got another wedding in 5 minutes.”  
“Yes, start Elvis.” The stranger told him.  
“Okay, before we start the ceremony, I need you both to write your names here.” Elvis said, handing them a piece of paper.  
They each did their best.  
“Okay, mister Kil- Killi- Killy-” Elvis squinted his eyes at the piece of paper, he was having trouble reading the names, but then he just shrugged his shoulders and continued.  
“Mister Killy Jones-” he was interrupted by Emma laughing.  
“Your name’s Killy?!” she asked the stranger, he just shook his head no, smile on his face.  
Elvis gave her a death stare, she straightened her face so he could continue.  
“Mister Killy Jones, do you take Emma San to be your wife?”  
“I do.”  
“Miss Emma San, do you take Killy Jones to be your husband?”  
“I do”  
“I now pronounce you married, you may kiss.”  
And kiss they did, messy and full of tongue, Elvis had to look away, but cupid seemed to be enjoying the blabbering spectacle.

 

If before they were speechless, now, huh!

Emma tried, but even her thoughts were inarticulate.

Their eyes still glued to the tv, both undoubtedly questioning themselves if what they just saw actually happened, or if they were just in a really weird messed up dream.

  
“Shit.” Emma whispered.

The stranger (Killy?), then turned to Emma, “Okay, well, like Elvis said, we can get divorced, it’ll be quick and easy.”

Emma still wasn't acknowledging the guy, a million and one thoughts were rushing through her head, _it couldn't be that bad could it?_ she was thinking to herself, she wasn't dating anyone, and by the way her life was going, didn't want to or cared about dating anyone. The stranger didn't seem to have anyone else in his life either, _so what could be the harm?_ she thought. _We stay married, tell the immigration office and they’ll let him stay in the country. Of course, there will be check ups and everything, so if we just tell each other some things about ourselves and live together for like two days no one would know!_

  
In her mind she was made up, she was still not paying attention to the Irish, who continued with his talk of “I know a lass, she’ll see us tomorrow if I call her now, won’t take too long and we can both get on with our lives. Oh God! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Bloody fucking stupid idea!”  
Emma then faced Killian, and simultaneously they let out:

“We’re getting a divorce.”  

“We’re staying married.”


	4. Chapter 4

The stranger looked at Emma with a puzzled look on his face, “Wait, what?” he questioned her.  
“Hear me out,” Emma started, making herself more comfortable on his sofa. “You don't want to go back to Ireland right?” The stranger nodded once while still looking at Emma like she was a fucking lunatic! “And you, and I’m assuming here Irish, you don't have a girlfriend or wife,” he repeated his earlier motion. “And I don't have anyone either, and probably won’t, that’s not the point, the point is, you want to stay in this country, and now that we are married you can, so why get divorced?” She asked him, with a smile on her face.

The dude was still thinking Emma had some sort of problem, because he could not see why she was so into this idea. What was in it for her? He would get to stay in the country, her? Nothing. She would just be married. He started to wonder if there was an ulterior motive…  
“Why though? Why do you want to stay married to me? For once, it’s bloody illegal! And what’s in it for you?” He asked her, kinda defensive.  
“Well, if we don't tell anyone the reasons we’re married, no one would know it’s illegal. You can keep a secret can’t you? And, what’s in it for me? I’ve done a lot of bad shit in my life, and for once I want to do something good for someone. Now, I’m not saying I believe in fate or anything, but if this is my chance to do something worthwhile, then hell, I’m all in.”  
Irish was taken aback.   
He did not know this woman well enough to trust anything she was saying, but for some reason beyond his understanding, he did.   
He trusted her completely.  
“Okay.” he told her softly.  
Now she was taken aback.   
She didn't expect him to agree with her so quickly. She thought she was going to have to convince him more. But no, here he was, telling her that he was okay with them being married.  
“But-” He started again, “There are some things we need to talk about.”

 

A while later, Emma and the yet still stranger could be found sitting face to face in the most remote section of a local diner he had taken her.  
A cup of cocoa sat in front of her, and one of tea in front of him.   
She had insisted that she wasn't hungry, but the yet stranger had ordered food for 10.   
“We are hangover. We need hangover food.”  
And she didn't even think twice to bicker with him.

They had waited for their food to be delivered to their table before starting their conversation, neither wanted anyone to hear even a word of what they were going to talk about.  
“Okay, first of all, what’s your name?” she asked him, hesitantly, looking down at her food instead of at him.  
“Of course, how rude of me, Killian Jones, at your service.” He told her and shot her a grin.  
“Emma, Emma Swan.”   
“Well, nice to meet you Emma Swan.”  
“You too Killian Jones, by the way, Killian is way better than Killy.” she told him, immense smile on her face.  
He just smiled back, “Haha Emma San!” 

And for a split second, things seemed alright, their laughter being louder than the rest of the world.  
But the moment was far too short.

“How do you wanna do this then?” Killian asked Emma while placing eggs, bacon, pancakes and toast on her plate.   
“I don’t know,” she looked at him, now filling his plate with a mountain of food. “We’ll probably gonna have to figure this out as we go along, at least most of it.”  
“Yes, I agree.”   
Then a silence hit them once more. To fill in they both started to eat, hoping it would be an excuse for the awkwardness they felt.  
“I have a lawyer,” Killian started, which made Emma’s attention fix on him, “I can call her tomorrow and tell her I got married and she’ll take care of the rest.”  
“They might be suspicious, the immigrations’ office,” Emma told him, Killian juts nodded in agreement. “So we can figure something out to make it seem real.”  
“Like living together?” He shot her a look.  
“Yeah, like living together.” She told him, her voice flat. “We don't have to!” she immediately let out. “I mean, we can just pretend, when we know they are dropping in we’ll just tell them we’ve been living together.”  
“What if they don't let us know when they’re checking up on us?” Killian started to get more concerned now, the whole aspect of what they were planning flooding his mind, he was sure they were gonna get caught, and the worst they could do to him was get him deported, but her? She could go to jail!  
“Are you sure you wanna do this?” He asked her.  
“Yes! I told you, I’m in.” There was a beat “Why? Did you change your mind?” She was the one getting worried now.  
“Yes. No. I don't know! It’s such a big thing, I don't know.”  
“Ok, so, what if we do live together? Would that make it better?”  
“In a way, yes.”   
“Okay then, we’ll move in together, we’ll be like roommates y’know, and when they go check on us, we’ll just pretend we’ve been sleeping on the same bed. Sounds good?”   
“Yes, ok, that’s better. Just one thing, where are we gonna live?”

 

Their plans were all set, Emma was going to move in with Killian, he had a spare room so that’s where she would stay. Her lease was about to expire anyway, and his place was better than hers. He had suggested she changed the decoration a bit of the whole apartment, to really feel like she lived there also, her response? “With what? Can’t you see I barely have anything in my place?” she told him, while they both stood in the middle of her somewhat empty living room.   
“You’re not a very sentimental person are you?” he asked her.  
“No, not really.” she replied, while getting some boxes out of a cupboard and giving it to him.

They thought best for her to move in as soon as possible, and because of her lack of personal items, one trip with each carrying some boxes and a suitcase was more than enough to get her out of her place and into his. They would be roommates, she would help pay the rent, and buy groceries, and each had their own things and rooms, but shared a bathroom, kitchen and living room. It would take some getting used to, but both were sure they could make it! And hell, they only needed to live like that for 2 years… 

“Okay, look at this, we’re gonna have to be married for two whole years for me to get my green card,” Killian told Emma, looking up from his laptop. He was sitting in the bed, in her bed, while she was busy unboxing her stuff and finding a new home for them. “And that’s not even all of it, we can get a divorce after these two years, or go for three for me to get my citizenship,” He looked down at his computer again, mumbling to himself what seemed like: “but of course not that, we’ll get a divorce as soon as possible”   
Emma was quiet. She knew was she was getting into, she had read and worked with people who got married just for a green card, she had seen first hand the consequences of that, of if or when the authorities found out. She knew it was risky. She knew they would have to put an immense amount of effort into it to seem real. She was determined to go through with it! She just hoped he was too.  
“And look, it says here that we’re gonna have to fill out a form, provide evidence of our marriage and then they’ll call us in for an interview.” He looked at her, she could see the worry in his face…  
“Look, I know this was my idea, but we don't have to go ahead with it if you don't want.” She sat opposite him, “For this to work, it’s gonna take the two of us, and I told you, I’m 100% in, but you have to be too.” She was serious, she didn't know exactly why she didn't think this was a bad idea, but it was too late to back out now.  
Killian took a deep breath, “You’re right Swan, it is gonna take both of us, I’m in too.” He told her, while closing the laptop. “I don't know why you’re doing this, exactly, but thank you!” He then told her, looking her right in the eyes, staring down her soul. “I don't know how I will ever be able to repay you.” She was thrown off! Frozen! Mouth hanging slightly open! She saw a completely different side to Killian Jones with just that sentence! She silently wished that would be a side she would see more often in those two years ahead of them.   
“Howbout,” she started unclearly, shaking her head to put tings into perspective, “How about, you start by making me something to eat? All that walking got me famished!” she shot him a smile.  
“As you wish!” he replied before walking out of the room.   
Emma couldn't help but broaden her smile, so much the man didn't know about her, but so much he was doing right so far! She thought that he could definitely, definitely be the death of her!

 

Later that night, all of Emma’s things were in place in her new room. She was sprawled out on the bed, laptop on lap going through some emails and work stuff she didn't bother with on that holiday weekend.   
She heard a knock on the door. “Yeah?” she replied, while trying to unravel herself from all the papers that surrounded her. When she opened the door, Killian was standing there, head down, arms behind his back, waiting patiently for her.   
“Hey! What’s up?” She caught his attention.  
“Didn’t want to bother, Swan, just wanted to see if you needed anything, or if you wanted to watch some television or something.” He stuttered to her, hand going up to scratch the back of his ear.  
“It’s no bother Killian! Uhmm, I’m good, and thanks for the offer but I’ve got some work to finish, maybe another time?” She told him, his attention remaining on the gap between them rather than on her.  
“Yes, sure! Good night then!” he said, turning away and swiftly turning back to her, “Oh and, if the T.V. is too loud, just let me know.” and turned away again, heading for the couch.  
The smile on Emma’s face could be seen for miles, she didn't know if he was like this all the time or if he was just trying to be nice to her now, and the thought of finding out, triggered something inside her.


	5. Chapter 5

Next morning, Emma woke up to that same ceiling, and for a split second, she forgot all about what had happened, the persistence beeping coming from her alarm made her reality flush in again. She took a deep breath and got up, changing into her attire for the day in a matter of seconds, and dashing to the bathroom. She thought that the quicker she was the less of a burden she was going to be.

The place was quiet, no noise, at all. She had no idea what Killian did for a living, or even if he had a job! From what she could piece together from the night they met, he had been fired from his job, but it didn't look like he was in the apartment. At 6am, she didn't expect that. But then again, she didn't know what she expected when she agreed to move in with a stranger. One thing she definitely didn't expect was the plate of waffles and freshly made coffee waiting for her in the kitchen.

‘ _Might, or might not, be a recurring thing, but for today, enjoy breakfast. Your (fake) hubby, Killian :)_ ’ was written on a sticky note next to the waffles. One, his handwriting was art, two, what the hell? He made her breakfast, left her a note, ‘ _hubby_ ’! Her heart doubled in size, and for probably the first time in a very long while, she sat down to have breakfast, the sticky note later finding residency inside the only thing Emma was emotionally sentimental towards, a box, worn out, old, but full of life, her life, from the first doll she had gotten at age 2 to the drawing her kid had made for her before going on holiday with his step mum.

 

6pm, she finally got herself out of work and back to the apartment. Killian was there, sitting on the sofa, TV on but his attention on his laptop.

“Hey!” she said to him, while heading for her room. “Hello Swan!” he replied, following her steps with his eyes until she disappear through the door.

She quickly appeared again, having stripped off her previous attire, and now wearing what looked like pyjama bottoms and a top, her hair up in a very, very messy bun. She headed straight to the kitchen, Killian’s eyes still following her around the flat.

“Nice pyjama bottoms you got there!” he teased her, while watching her open and close every cabinet looking for something specific. She looked back at him, brow furrowed until she looked down to check what she was wearing.

“Yeah,” she chuckled once she saw what she had picked to wear, “The care bears, they're my ultimate favourite!” she said sarcastically, smile wide in her face. Her brightly coloured pj trousers displayed all the care bears, in their original glory, as well as many rainbows and stars and clouds around, the fabric was visibly worn out, but the colour somehow continued to pop, but what caught Killian’s eyes even more is that at first it looked fine on her, but on further inspection, her ankles were on display, as was most of her calves.

He wondered how long she’s had those for, and why she was so attached to them, because if there’s one thing he learned about Emma Swan from her moving in to his place, she didn't care much for sentimental things. And she was a very private person. So it took him by surprise when she plopped herself next to him on the sofa with a glass of water in hand.

“Long day, this is comfy, don't judge.” she told him, attention closely on the contents of the TV.

Killian wasn’t. He just smiled at her and retuned his thoughts to his computer.

“So, what is this we’re watching?” she asked him, pulling her legs up to the sofa and folding them.

“Uhmm,” he looked up at the TV, “Some sort of documentary I think, about the ocean or animals or something like that, wasn't paying attention.”

“Looks interesting,” she told him, finally looking over at him, and seeing the many pages open on his laptop, “You’re working!” she let out, and began put her feet on the floor once more to stand up, “I’ll leave you-” “NO” he said abruptly, reaching for her arm, but retrieving his hand before touching her. “I mean, no need,” he scratched behind his ear, eyes inverting hers as best as he could, “I wasn't doing much anyways, you can stay.”

“You sure?” she asked him, making his attention shift to her.

He nodded, and Emma proceeded to sit back down.

Killian remained there with his laptop open, but as Emma got more and more intrigued on the ocean documentary, he found himself watching more and more of it and replying to her snarky comments about it with his own.

 

Killian insisted on making dinner for both of them, but Emma was having none of it.

“Hey, you made me breakfast this morning, and food last night, now time to show you my cooking skills to see just what you got yourself into!” she told him, half jokingly. “Thanks for breakfast this morning by the way.” She said then, in all seriousness. He smiled at her, “My pleasure Swan.”

No one ever would say that Emma Swan was a good cook, she was an alright cook, and specially in a kitchen that she’s never cooked before, she started off lost! Until Killian volunteered to help, “In one condition, you don't question what I’m doing.” she stated.

And he didn’t, but by her request he was half-expecting his kitchen to turn into a crime scene when she was done. To his surprise, it only looked like the beginning of a super messy crime!

“Voilà!” she announced, as she retrieved the dish mounted in mac and cheese from the oven. “Mac ’n cheese à la Emma!” She looked so proud of herself Killian could do nothing but grin at the sight of her!

They ate, they talked somewhat, but the TV in front of them was the one to make up most of the noise. Afterwards, Killian wanted to be the one to tidy the kitchen, but Emma didn't let him, her argument: “My mess, my responsibility.” and he thought that that might apply to more than dinner in her life. So he went to his room, but before he could close the door behind him, Emma called out “Hey, uhmm, just one question,” he focused on her, “Your job, you told me you were fired, do you- are you-” she didn't know how to phrase it without sounding invading. He understood what she was trying to ask him, and stepped in before she could stutter one more time, “Yeah, I got a new job, temporary but it’s fine.” he flashed her a smile, “Oh, and, I called the lawyer today, Saturday 8am her office, works for you?”

“Yeah” she said softly, nodding her head. 

She didn't see him until later the next day.


	6. Chapter 6

“Wait, what do you mean you don’t live there anymore?” the sweet voice of her best friend was being used to question her life choices once again, but hey, by now Emma was more than used to it! Mary Margaret did do that on a weekly basis.  
“I moved.” she told her friend, who was sat opposite the table to her, plates crammed with food and mugs filled with beverage in front of them.   
“Moved to where? And why didn't I know about it?” She stared at Emma for a split second, and continued “We could’ve helped you move, I mean, you don't have _that_ much stuff but even so, why didn't you say anything?” Her eyes were fiercely looking down on Emma, who didn't know exactly what to tell her friend.   
“Well, I kinda moved in with someone,”   
“WHAT??” Her friends loud voice made many heads around them turn to focus on the two ladies. “Sorry,” Mary Margaret whispered to Emma, looking around wide-eyed, “It’s just, you moved in with someone? I didn't even know you were seeing someone!” She looked stunned. She picked up her tea to have a sip while keeping her eyes peeled on Emma.  
“Yeah, about that, I’m not ‘seeing’ someone, I actually got married to that ‘someone’.” Emma spat out, it was now or never, and as she was in this for the long haul, might as well tell people sooner than later.  
You could see the words becoming clear to Mary Margaret, as her face changed from concentration, to bewilderment, to shock, all while spraying tea over the plates and her friend, followed by her chocking on the tea that managed not to get spilled.  
“Okay,” Emma said while shuffling her seat closer to her friend, “Are you okay?” she asked, while rubbing her friends back.  
“No,” Mary Margaret said, rusty voice, sitting up to look at Emma, “I’m not ok! You got MARRIED?” she half shouted, making sure not to be too loud to not attract any more attention to them.   
Emma was going to retort, but before she could, Mary Margaret held one finger up to her, reaching for her phone. Emma just stared at her.  
“Hi honey, no yeah, everything’s sorta fine, uhm, are you busy or do you have a second?” Mary Margaret was speaking on the phone, and Emma knew exactly who to. She rubbed her hands on her face before face-palming the table.   
“Oh great! Yeah we are! See you in a bit. Love you!” Mary Margaret put her phone down and poked Emma on the arm.  
“Okay, your brother’s gonna be here in a bit, how about we eat while we wait for him?” She sounded very passive-aggressive, and Emma was beginning to get very uncomfortable with the whole situation.

“There’s my two favourite ladies in the world!” came a voice from behind Emma, and her posture stiffened at once. Her brother, David, grabbed a chair from another table and sat down next to them, placing a quick kiss on Mary Margaret’s cheek. She smiled at him half-heartedly.

“So, what’s so important that I get to have lunch with both of you?” he asked, half jokingly, not having the slightest clue of the bomb that was going to be dropped on him.   
“Emma?” Mary Margaret stared at her fiercely.  
Her brother’s reaction to her news was what was expected, the guy went through all 7 stages of grief in a mater of seconds. And to top it all of, he insisted that Emma and her knew “roommate” (his words, and hey, he wasn't half wrong on that one!) go to dinner at his and Mary Margaret's house on Saturday. And no, there was no way she could get out of this…

 

“Hey!” Killian said to Emma while walking in to the apartment. Emma was sprawled across the sofa, porting an oversized green hoodie that hid her short pj shorts. The second she heard him she straightened up and turned down the volume of the TV.  
“Oh, don’t get uncomfortable on my account, mi casa es su casa, literally in this case.” He told her, walking towards his room. She just smiled at him and spread her legs across the sofa once again.  
Minutes later he walked out again, having taken off his shirt and porting the white vest that was underneath it, and barefooted, and sat on the armchair alongside Emma.   
“Wanna watch anything?” Emma asked, handing him the remote.  
“No, I’m good!” he told her, attention still on whatever it was that she was watching on the screen.  
“Oh, I should probably mention, I told my family…” She said, looking at him, to see what he would make of it.   
“Okay,” he said, then turned to her, “Wait, you told them about the arrangements or?” he asked  
“No, I told them I was married.”   
“Oh-okay.” Just like her, he didn't know what to say.  
“I wasn’t sure what to tell ‘em so I just said that I was married, that’s why I moved houses.”  
“O-okay.” he told her, “Well, technically we are married,”  
“Yeah”  
“So we’ll just tell our closest family and friends that and act as such in front of them.” He was trying to make the situation better, but deep inside he hoped that they wouldn’t have to do that for another couple of months, or y’know, only on major holidays.  
“Yeah, and we might have to start practicing now…” she said, and the sentence just hung in the air, a quizzed look on his face, waiting undoubtedly for an explanation from her.  
“They wanna have dinner with us on Saturday.” she told him.  
“Right” he said, trying to not freak out too much in front of her.  
“Not a big deal, it’s just my brother and his wife.”  
“No big deal, okay.” he whispered to himself and proceeded to turn to the TV again.

 

Saturday was fast approaching, and they hadn't talked about the dinner with her family any further, which was making her restless and him more nervous. They had just gotten on with their lives for the rest of that week, barely seeing each other, somewhat missing one another on purpose. Came Friday night and they couldn't pretend things were fine any more.  
“Come in.” Emma called when she heard him knocking on her door.  
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” He said softly, while walking towards her.  
“You’re not!” She said, closing the laptop in front of her.  
“I have a suggestion.” He told her.  
“Do tell.”  
“We don't really know anything about each other, and we don't really scream ‘MARRIED’ either if you asked me, so I thought we would go out tonight, to dinner, and talk, more, about us, and this.” he said, while gesturing his hands around them two. He was obviously baffled, and she was enjoying seeing him like that, it was cute!  
“Okay!” she answered him. “What time would you like to pick me up from my room?” She then asked, flirty smile on her face.  
“8 o’clock?”  
She nodded.  
It was a date! She was going on a date with the very handsome Irish man she married as a favour! She couldn't get her head around it! And couldn't decide on what to wear!!

8 o’clock on the dot he knocked on her door, she opened it not knowing what to expect, but boy oh boy, she was not expecting what she was faced with. He was wearing a very tightly fitted white shirt, first three buttons undone, black blazer and black trousers, that made him look so, so fine!   
“You clean up nice.” she told him, trying to break the spell he had unknowingly released in her brain. His shy smile along with the little scratch behind the ear thing he did made a sudden warmth shoot through her.  
“You look amazing.” He then told her, holding out his hand, “Shall we go m’lady?”  
“We shall!” she took his hand and that shot of warmth made its way once again across her body.

  
He had picked the restaurant, and damn wasn’t it a nice one!   
The car ride over was somewhat uncomfortable, both knowing that they would have to talk to each other, to open up at least a little bit, so that they could seem married, but that was proving harder than they anticipated.  
Once seated, and drinks ordered, they could hide from each other behind the huge menus they held, but Killian thought best to just break the ice.  
“So, dinner tomorrow is just with your brother and his wife?” He asked Emma, putting his menu down and giving her his full attention.  
“Yes!” Emma replied, putting her menu down, “David, my brother, well, step-brother, and Mary Margaret, his wife, and my best friend!” she shot him a smile.  
“Half-brother?”   
“Yeah, his parents adopted me when I was 14.” She informed him, and his face went completely red. He didn't know she was adopted, and now felt weird for carrying on with the topic. But did anyway.  
“You were adopted. What happened to your parents, if you don't mind me asking?”   
“Uhm, I don’t know, actually. All I know is that I was put into a group home when I was a baby, and went through various foster homes until Ruth and Mike decided to adopt me.” Emma answered Killian, looking very uncomfortable, not wanting to reveal too much but knowing he had to be aware of some personal stuff.   
“But enough of my sob story, what about you? As I recall from our wedding night, you’re not so fond of your home country?” She asked him, knowing it was tearing but hey, he hit a sore spot on her so she was just returning the favour.  
“Yeah, I’m not.” He just looked at her, not wanting to go on, waiting for her to say something or change the subject, but she didn’t. Emma continued looking at him, expecting him to elaborate on his answer. If all their conversations went like this, they were definitely screwed!  
He gave in.   
“I lost my family. My dad left us when I was still young, but later we found that he had fallen ill and passed. About 5 years ago, my mother was diagnosed with cancer, 7 months later she passed. And about 2 years ago, my brother got into a motorbike accident, he didn't pull through. I couldn’t stay there, everything was a reminder of them, so I moved.”  
Emma was left speechless. She did not expect that! She always thought her life had been horrible, but never considered that there were people who shared that horribleness.   
“I’m sorry.” she told him, reaching out to caress his hand.   
He just smiled at her.

 

For the rest of their dinner they had decided not to dwell into their blubber, but rather get to know each other a bit better, just so that their relationship would seem more natural. First experiences were shared, ‘what if’s were discussed, ‘would you rather’s were debated, favourites were examined, and by the time they were done with dessert, Killian Jones knew more about Emma Swan than people in her life. And Emma Swan knew things about Killian Jones that no one had been bothered to know before.   
Normally she would feel very uncomfortable around someone after being so blatantly open with them, but with him it was different. She had lowered her armoured walls for the most part of that dinner, in the hopes he would just walk in, dabble in what he needed to know and leave everything as it was. Instead, he walked in and took residence, lowering some of the shields but leaving everything as it was.   
Walking side-by-side on the short walk back to the car, Killian reached out and gently took hold of Emma’s hand, quickly glancing over at her. The smile on her lips was followed by the warmth that shot through her heart. 


	7. Chapter 7

Saturday 8 am, Killian and Emma found themselves sitting in front of a Mrs Belle French, _lawyer_.

Killian’s heart felt like it was going to race straight out of his chest, he kept glancing towards Emma every chance he got. She looked so calm. He didn't know how she managed to look so calm. But she did. She was radiating tranquility, which made him stare at her a second too long.  
“Mr Jones!” Mrs French directed at him for the second time, snapping her fingers to get his attention.  
“Yes!” He swiftly turned his attention to her.  
“Ms Swan said you have the marriage certificate?”  
“Right, yes!” He handed it to her.  
Emma shot him a look, and she could tell how nervous he was. She put her hand on his knee softly, rubbing her thumb in a circular motion while giving him a smile.  
He appreciated her efforts into trying to calm him down.

They filled some forms, they signed some papers, they were told to mail the forms to the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, they were told of the risks if it was found that they were lying, they were told that the USCIS would make home visits and assess their marriage, they were told everything they already knew, because Emma wasn't one to leave anything to chance, and apparently neither was Killian.

 

When they left the lawyer’s office, Killian felt like he could breath again.  
“Still not too late to back down.” Emma told him, envelope with their visa petition forms in hand.  
“All in.” He told her, with a smile.  
“All in.” she replied.  
They made a quick stop by the postal office to send the forms, and decided to go have breakfast.  
This time, Emma chose where.

 

The moment Emma walked in the diner, she felt like she was floating on air. The place was literally one of the few she would call a happy place! She had a booth and everything. Since Granny had come back, she hadn't had the chance to go there yet, because of everything with Killian, so when Granny saw her walk through the door, she dropped what she was doing and shot towards Emma, embracing her in a hug.

“Not going to lie to you, when you didn't show up here yesterday I became worried.” Granny said into her ear, not letting Emma go.  
“Had a busy couple of days.” Emma retorted, hugging the older lady back.  
Granny’s gaze then fell on Killian’s legs, and travelled up to look him in the eye. He was standing behind Emma, not looking like he belonged but not looking like he was lost either.  
“What about this pair of blue eyes here, belongs to you?” Granny asked Emma, letting her go and moving closer to Killian.  
“Oh, yeah, Granny, this is Killian, Killian, Granny.” Emma introduced them. Granny went to give Killian a hug. Then immediately directed them to ‘Emma’s booth.  
“I didn't know you were dating _that_!” Granny whispered to Emma, Killian following close behind them heard the hush whisper, and stepped in before Emma could answer.  
“Not dating, married actually!” He told her, smile on his face.  
The old lady looked shocked.  
“Married!?!?” She let out. “What?? When did this happen? What did your brother say? He knows right? Please for the love of God tell me he knows.”  
Emma was already sitting comfortably in her booth, watching her friend freak out about the news.  
“Yes, he knows, and it was a spur of the moment thing, just the two of us and some strangers.” She told Granny.  
“Quite the surprise!” Granny told her. “Congratulations!” Then stared at Killian, “Take good care of her.” She dead-ass told him, and left.  
“Isn’t she lovely?” Emma asked Killian when she walked away.  
“Yeah, lovely, and scary!” Killian rebutted.  
“You should see her gun collection, it’s amazing!” Emma told Killian, biggest smile on her face.  
Killian looked even more scared now, “Don’t joke!” he told Emma, playfully.  
“The thing is, I’m not!” She shot him a smile, and his fell, and he stared wide-eyed at Emma.  
“But don’t worry, the only person you should worry about is my brother, he’s a cop, he carries his gun with him everywhere. Kinda intimidating, but Mary Margaret finds the holster hot.” She deadpan told Killian, while casually opening a menu and starting to read it.

 

“Swaaan!” Killian called from his room, where he was desperately trying on different shirts and ties trying to figure out which one would be more suited to meet her family. For those who didn’t know any better, they definitely looked like a married couple! Even they were surprised at how at ease everything between them was going.  
“Yeah?” Emma shouted back at him from her room.  
Killian didn't answer, instead, he showed up at her door wearing a half buttoned shirt, holding two more, and 4 ties dropping from his neck.  
“Killian! We leave in like 5 minute!” Emma told him, seeing how not-ready he was.  
“I know! Just- Just help me pick a shirt! Last time I met someone’s family was more than a decade ago!” He told her.  
“Which shirt do YOU like best?” She asked him.  
“I’m not trying to get my approval!” He told her, “I know that one’s impossible, your family’s on the other hand-”  
“They’re not gonna care what you wear. But no tie!” Emma told him, trying to focus on making her eye liner look somewhat decent.  
“Just pick a shirt Killian!” She told him.  
“Which one do you like?” He then asked her, in a softer tone.  
She looked at him with a tone of surprise to her face.  
“The blue one, matches your eyes.” She answered him quietly.  
“Blue one it is.” She heard him murmur, while hurrying back to his room.  
5 minutes later, both dressed to impress, they left the apartment.

  
Standing in front of her brother’s front door, Killian looked more nervous than he did that morning at the lawyer’s office. Their fingers intertwined, Emma started to rub gentle circles on the back of his hand. And as surely as that worked in the morning, it was woking again in that moment.

Mary Margaret was the one to open the door, and she took a double look at Killian while whispering a ‘ _Wow_ ’ under her breath before telling them to go in. Emma just knew this was going to be one of the longest nights of her life!

  
Once introductions were made, and drinks offered and served, the questions started to come in.  
All sitting around the table, David was particularly interested in Killian, as so seemed to be Mary Margaret.  
“What do you do Killian?” David stared at him.  
“Well, right now I’m assisting a friend down by the marina, but that is just temporary, I’m looking for work, I’m a marine engineer.” Killian told David.  
Him and Emma had agreed to keep things as close to the truth as they could, and some things, like his job, he didn't need to lie about.  
David told him about being a policeman, and Killian was genuinely interested in that, as he did work for the marines for a while.  
There was something Emma didn't know! And her surprised face when he talked about it sparkled some more unwanted questions from the couple.  
“You didn't know he was in the army?” Mary Margaret asked Emma.  
“No, I did, maybe I just forgot.” She was trying to make excuses, and she knew that the best way to get her brother to change the subject about anything was to mention her sex life, so she did.  
“Yeah, I know why I forgot! You haven’t yet showed me a picture of you in your uniform like you promised! You know how hot I find men in uniform!” Emma directed to Killian, licking her lips and giving him snarky smiles.  
“Okaaay, so, how did the two of you meet?” David interrupted her.  
Worked every time!

  
Killian became more comfortable as the dinner progressed, and it showed. On top of that, Emma was actually enjoying herself for once. After dessert, Mary Margaret thought it would be a good idea to jumble through some old pictures they had in their house. It was a big thing if Mary Margaret pulled out the photo albums! She didn’t do that for every guest!  
“This one’s my favourite!” her chipper voice broke the silence as mounts of pictures were passing through hand to hand in the room.  
She was holding a picture of a girl, sitting on what seemed like an old carrousel horse, detached from the actual carrousel, but in the middle of a field, a field brimming with thousands of forget-me-nots. Next to her was a slightly bigger boy, they both looked so fulfilled with happiness it was contagious. Every face in the room lit up, and David proceeded to tell Killian about that day.  
“Yeah, that day was just the best! Our mom decided to take us on a road trip to the beach when dad was out of town, and we drove by this field, and mom just stopped the car and ran into it. Forget-me-nots. They were her favourite flowers.” His voice died down when he said that, the memory of his mom coming into his head, and it seemed into Emma’s too, if she had laser vision, the floor in front of her would be a couple of metres deep. Killian wasn't oblivious to how she was feeling then, and casually took her hand in his and returned the comfort she had graced him with earlier in the evening.  
David continued after a brief pause, “We of course ran after her, and this one,” he nudged Emma in the arm, “this one literally took off running in a different direction, we ran to her and she said she wanted dibs on naming the carousel horse!” David let out a laugh, as if remembering the exact moment, all around him, smiles were lifting everyones faces.  
“What did you name him?” Killian asked Emma, pointing to the picture.  
“Not telling.” she replied.  
“Oh c’mon! It cant be worse than your care bear pjs!” Killian let out in amusement.  
“You still have those?” Mary Margaret shot Emma a look.  
“What? Yes I still have them! I like them.” she responded playfully.  
“Tell me the name!!” Killian then asked Emma again, this time going to tickle her. Through giggles you could hear Emma’s “No, it’s embarassiiiiing!!”  
“Get a room!” David chuckled at the sight of the two, and almost immediately, their bubble popped and they stopped and sat up, straightening themselves up.  
“Oh, don’t stop on my account!” David told them.  
“You two are too cute!” Mary Margaret told them, standing up, “I’ve never seen Emma so relaxed with anyone before, you’ll be good for her!” she told the Irishman, before heading for the kitchen.  
David gave them a smile and followed his lady, leaving Emma and Killian alone for the first time that night.  
They smiled at each other. Both a bit awkward from what had just happened.  
“It’s not just me right? This is going well, right?” Killian asked her, breaking the silence.  
“Yeah, this is going well, better than well, Mary Margaret just welcomed you into the family. Now is just a case of my brother doing the same!” she smiled at him, before “He will.” She shot him a shy smile, which he reciprocated.

Hot chocolates were served, and Killian found out that Emma liked hers finished off with cinnamon! More photos were passed around, and more stories were shared.  
Emma was the one to suggest they should go, it was ways into the dead of night, and as much as she was enjoying all of what was happening, she was tired, and wanted to go home, to her bed.  
So goodbyes were said, and before they closed the door behind them, David called out to Killian, “You make her happy, and that’s all that matters.” He told the not-so-stranger-anymore, before holding out his hand. Killian did not expect what happened next! This wasn't just a handshake, no! It was a handshake turned into a hug! Along with a pat on the back! The two women just stood there and stared at the warm moment happening between the two.

In the car minutes later, heading back to their place, Killian was all smiles. He couldn’t help it. And apparently neither could Emma!  
“So, you never told me the name of the metal horse.” Killian asked her, looking at her briefly, then focusing back on the road.  
“Really?” Emma asked him, jokingly.  
“Yeah! Not gonna give up until I know the name of the bloody horse Swan!” he joked.  
“Uh fine! I named it Princess Diana ok?” she told him, faintly.  
Killian was expecting something way worse! He kept looking at Emma and back at the road and back at Emma, with a confused face, it wasn't that embarrassing of a name.  
“After Princess Diana of Wales, that’s cute!” he told her.  
“Yeah, no. It was actually Princess Diana of Themyscira.” She paused for a second as Killian’s eyes widened and stared down at her, “I had a really big crush on her when I was younger okay? Dave used to leave his comics laying around and I used to read them.” She then tried to defend herself.  
“Wonder woman huh?” He shot her a smile.  
“Yes! What’s wrong with her?” She replied, more bold this time. “I don't know what it was but I really liked her ok?!”  
“Hey, ok, ok! I’ve had my crushes too y’know, Ms Marvel, Thor for a while, but I think I just wanted to be him…” he trailed off, having made Emma burst out laughing.  
She was beautiful. He’d noticed it before. But now? In the low street lights, completely vulnerable and at ease? Dazzling! Simply Gorgeous! He had to remind himself he was driving a couple of times, as his gaze lingered a bit too long on her.  
A soft silence fell on them when her laughter came to a halt. But it didn't last too long, Killian still was intrigued about something.  
“The tattoo, on your wrist, for your mom?” he asked her softly.  
She looked down at her wrist, then at him, then at her wrist again, and ran her thumb along it a couple of times. “Yeah, for Ruth.”  
“How did she pass?”  
She shot him a quick smile, “She had a heart attack. About a year after Mike, which was ironic! They were so different, only to be taken by the same thing.” Her voice was soft, and low. This was obviously a hard topic of conversation for her. Killian was honoured she was sharing this much with him. He reached out for her hand, held it up to his mouth and kissed the back of it.


	8. Chapter 8

For about a week things were really easy and good between them. Killian would normally wake up earlier than Emma, giving her time to make coffee while he used the bathroom. Then she went to the bathroom while he prepared whatever for breakfast. He would leave first, and on some days she would work from home. After work, they each stayed in their own little worlds, sometimes even merging them in the living room in front of the TV. Conversation never really went deeper than that night at her brother’s and the car, but both were ok with that. Dinner was a routine they were still figuring out. She suggested they each cook one night, but he would occasionally have dinner out with people from work, leaving her to take care of things by herself at the apartment. Not that she minded, she was used to being alone.

Emma hadn't yet had a chance to see her son, he had come home from his little vacation, but according to his adopted-mother Regina, he was ‘too busy’ to go visit her. She had told Emma she could have Henry for the whole of Sunday, since they were doing nothing that day. Emma still had to tell Killian about her kid. She had no pictures of him around, the only one she did have was inside the locket she only took off to shower.   
To top it all off, she had received a call from USCIS, the immigration office, asking them to go in on Monday 9am for an interview! Friday night dinner would be quite something!

Instead of cooking, they had mutually decided to just order something. Both were absolutely knackered from their jobs, and Killian could tell there was something on with Emma, apart from everything else that was going on. But he decided to let her tell him in her own time, if she even wanted to tell him! The dude was trying his best to not overstep, but sometimes he didn't know whether he was doing so little that she thought he didn't care.  
She stayed in her room the whole wait for their food to arrive. The intercom buzzing startled her, but also made her realise she would have to tell him, about both things, one way or another.

“This smells delicious!” He announced, closing the door and heading for the couch. Emma was in the kitchen, getting plates and cutlery.   
“Any requests for movies m’lady?” he asked her.  
“Uhm, nope, whatever’s fine.” she told him.  
He started going through he channels, “How about this documentary on paint? Rocks your boat?” he asked amusingly. She wasn't that amused though.  
“Not really, but whatever.” she replied, opening up the boxes and filling her plate with Chinese food.   
He followed suit, after changing the TV to a food competition show.  
“What’s up with you?” he confronted her. “I mean, I know I haven’t seen all sides to Emma Swan yet, and God knows you haven't seen all o’mine, but something’s off.”  
She debated whether just to come clean or defy his confrontation. The prior seemed to be the more mature thing to do…   
“You’re right!” she looked down at her plate, “And yeah, somethings up.”  
He muted the TV and turned to face her, plate still in lap.   
“Whatever it is Emma, you can tell me. We’re married, we shouldn't have secrets between us!” He smiled at her before filling his mouth with food.   
She smiled faintly at him. _‘Here it goes!’_ she thought.  
“Okay, just, don’t think much of this ok?” she told him. He just nodded, his mouth being too busy with chewing to respond.  
“I have a son.” Emma laid it down flat.   
Killian started choking on his food, coughing what was left in his mouth into the plate in front of him. He took a deep breath finally, and looked at Emma.  
“You have a son?” he asked, disbelieved.  
“Yeah, I do, I have a kid. He’s 12, he was adopted by this woman, Regina, when he was a baby, and recently he wanted to meet his brith mother so they came to me, and now I spend time with him from time to time.”  
Killian was taken aback. It wasn't too big of a deal but at the same time, it was huuuge. She had a son. Which she gave up for adoption. Or so he assumed . But what other explanation would there be?!  
“I didn't know how to tell you.” Emma trailed off.  
Killian nodded his head, “No, no, don't worry, you don't need to tell me anything you don't want.”  
“I know, but you should know, especially since we also have an interview at the immigration office on Monday 9am.” She spit it out, then filled her mouth with some chinese.  
“This Monday?” he asked shocked, “So soon?”  
She nodded, then took a sip of her drink. “They called me today, both of us 9am their office here in town. Also, my kid’s coming on Sunday.”  
“Did you just decide to tell me everything at once so I have a heart attack woman?” he said jokingly.  
She giggled at his mannerism and exaggeration.   
“But seriously now, if you don't want your boy involved in this mess I’ll gladly go out for the day.” He wanted to be nothing but helpful, given all that this woman was doing for him.  
“No, no, it’s fine, I think he’ll like meeting you!” Her mood had suddenly gotten brighter, given the fact that this man that was a complete stranger a couple of weeks ago, now was so present in her life, she was comfortable enough to spend a whole day with him, and her son. Not a whole day just the two of them. Never just the two of them. That on the other hand would be just too weird… Ironic, right, given their situation!  
“What time does he get here?” Killian asked her, reaching for the remote to un-mute the TV. He was more than curious to know the story with her son, but decided that she would tell him in his own time.   
“Around 8, he always insists to come as early as humanly possible so we can spend more time together.” She told him, re-directing her attention to the TV.  
“Any plans for the day? Or you just gonna stay here?” Both their stares glued to the TV, their dinner being overly enjoyed.  
“Dunno, gonna ask him what he wants to do when he arrives.”  
“Hmm” he shot her way and the sound from the TV took over.

Some time later, when both plates were empty, both engulfed in a silent cloud, Killian reached beside him, then towards Emma, handing her something. A fortune cookie! ‘Let’s see what I’m doomed for now!’ Emma thought, before opening the packet and braking the cookie in half. A strip of paper peeked out, but before she could reach for it Killian reached out for her hand letting out a soft “Wait.” She looked at him with burrowed brows, he took his hand from hers, “We have to read it together, otherwise it’s bad luck” He told her.  
“Who told you that?!” She asked him.  
“My mother, and then my brother, so trust me!” he gave her a smile and broke his cookie in half.   
“Ok, ready?” he asked her. She nodded.  
“And read.” He said, reaching for his strip and reading it, while she did the same.   
“Yup, nope!” She sighed seconds later, putting the paper strip on the table in front of her.   
“Now we share!” he told her, picking it up after she put hers down and giving it to her once more.  
“Seriously?” She asked him.  
“Yeah, otherwise they’re just words on a paper.” Killian told her. He knew it was stupid, and that in fact, it was only words on a paper, but it was a thing his mom and brother did since he can remember -they were big fans of chinese food!- and so he was going to continue doing it, even if only to keep them in his mind for a couple of seconds each time.  
“I’ll go first!” he said. “You can make your own happiness.” He read out loud, then looked at Emma, waiting for her to read hers.  
“Okay then,” she said, before reading it “Change can hurt, but it leads to a path to something better.” She looked at him, “Now what? We burn them and dance around the ashes?” She asked, jokingly.  
“Nope,” he replied, “We throw them away and continue with our lives!” He told her, grin in his face, before putting the remainder piece of the cookie in his mouth and munching away. She never thought much of these things, she wasn’t a superstitious person at all, and had a feeling Killian wasn’t either, even though, these particular words found a way to engrave themselves in her brain.

 

Emma had decided that Saturday would be her lazy day, so when she finally left her room at around 1pm to go make coffee, she was a bit disappointed to find that Killian wasn’t there. She was enjoying hanging out with him, he was a good person, and real good to look at too if she could say so herself! For her, to form relationships and friendships, it took time, a lot of time! But for some reason, with him, it didn’t seem to be that hard.   
A couple of hours later, Killian finally came back to the apartment. He was met by a dead, bloody woman on the TV, and by emerald green eyes peeking from the sofa at him.   
“Hey!” Emma said, sitting up.   
“Hello and what are you watching?” He asked her.  
“Oh!” she said, glancing at the TV then back at him, now in the kitchen, getting a drink. “It’s a documentary thing about murders, they go through some cases, talking about it, in detail!” She told him. “It’s quite something!” she then declared. Killian was now standing beside the sofa, looking at the TV.   
“Hum, should I be worried or…?” He asked, looking at her through semi-squinted eyes.  
She let out a smile, “No, of course not, at least I don’t think so!”  
“Uhmm hum!” he nodded at her, heading towards his room, taking his shoes off and going back to sit beside her on the couch.

Later that night, after having mutually decided to make it an early one and head to their rooms, Killian knocked on Emma’s half open door.  
“Come in!” Emma half shouted. She was all tucked in bed already, underneath all her covers, laptop on lap, watching a movie.  
“Oh sorry, I didn’t know you were in bed already!” He let out as he opened the door.  
She shuffled a bit and sat down, closing her computer, giving him her whole attention. “No, no, was just watching a movie.” She told him. “Y’know you can come in right?” She asked, as he had stayed right by the door.  
“Yeah,” his eyebrows rose slightly and he walked further in the room, “I just wanted to ask something.”   
“Sit! Ask away!” She told him.   
He kinda sat on the foot on the bed. He looked awkward, and uncomfortable, to say the least. He’d been in her room before, but this time it was different somehow. He wasn’t sure what he was about to ask was crossing a line, or if she would take it in a bad way, and as much as he’s seen her in her pyjamas, the one today was something else entirely. Her shoulders were bare, her collarbones sticking out as she leaned forward towards him, her hair soft and all over the place. His mind started to wander to inappropriate places, while his face couldn’t look any softer itself, while looking at her.   
He snapped back to reality, not letting himself go to an impossible place.   
“Your boy’s coming tomorrow, and you said you didn’t have plans yet, so if I could be forward and ask if you would like to take him on a boat ride, with me.” He blabbered out, scratching the back of his ear and giving her a smile.  
“I don’t wanna be any trouble Killian.” she told him, shifting forward towards him.  
“It’s no problem at all, really. I was going to rent a boat anyways. It’s been too long since I was at sea, and this could be something different for the two of you as well!” He told her, eyes directed at the bed. “If you don’t think it’s a good idea it’s ok, I’ll get the boat another day for me.”  
She had a smile on her face all through his nervous rant. “No, I actually think it's a good idea! As far as you don't mind having company, Henry will love it!” She told him, reaching out for his hand that was on the bed but pulling hers back before it could reach his.   
“Great!” he told her, biggest smile on his face. “We’ll leave at about 9 yeah?”  
She nodded at him. The pure happiness he was sporting was contagious, as she couldn’t help but grin at him too as he began to leave her room.  
“G’night then Swan!” He told her before closing her door behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

The day started earlier for Emma for once. After a quick shower, she went straight to the kitchen and began preparations not only for breakfast, but also for lunch and snacks for their boat trip.  
When Killian opened the door from his room, he clearly did not expect to have awaken company in the apartment. Normally he was the one to get up first, and when he knew Emma was up before him, he would put on at least a vest, but either she was being extra quiet in the kitchen today, or he was too tired to notice as he emerged in the living room with his face still creased from sleep, hair in a messy conundrum, stretching his arms over his head while a yawn escaped his mouth, highlighting every single muscle in his bare arms and chest and tummy. Yep, he was shirtless! And Emma couldn’t help but look. When he stretched, it seemed like the world started to go in slow motion, and every single flinch his muscles did were highlighted and could be appreciated by her, even if she was quite a ways from him. She had an unexplainable urge to just run to him and let her hands explore every inch of his upper body, let her hands be engulfed by his chest hair, that looked radiant in the early sunlight. He looked like Killian Jones, but damn, he looked like the Killian Jones Emma wanted to wake up to every morning, but didn’t know yet. All she knew, was that seeing him like this, all bare and vulnerable, did something to her. What, she didn’t want to even think about. But it did.  
The spell on her was suddenly broken when he opened his eyes and they went soft for a slight second, before widening as the realisation of the situation he had just walked into.  
“Oh shit, sorry!” he said to her, before going back into his room.  
She wasn’t complaining, no, no, no. The thoughts that crossed her mind deserved their own ‘oooooh shit’ section of a book, but the dawning of their actual relationship made itself the centre of attention once more, and Emma had to snap back to the fact that nothing would ever happen between her and the handsome, perfect, soft, sweet man she was doing a mere favour to.  
So, she went back to making sandwiches for their trip, and made an effort to have her back to his door and look busy when he came out of his room again heading for the bathroom.  
The knock on the door saved them both from an awkward conversation as he went to the kitchen after a while.

“Well, this certainly is a nicer place than the last one.” Her son's adoptive mother’s voice echoed through the apartment as Emma opened the door to her and her kid. Her relationship with the woman was still in its works, she wasn’t too pleased that Henry had found his birth mother, especially when she had opted for a closed adoption, and never in her wild dreams would expect her 12 year old son to go looking. But hey, here they were, having to be friendly with each other at least a couple of times a month. Emma didn’t mind it too much though, cos the smile on her boy’s face when he saw her always, always made everything worth it.  
“How are you Regina?” Emma asked the woman.  
“I’m good, how about you Ms Swan?” the woman then tried to be polite.  
“Good!” Emma replied. Their conversations never really went deeper than that. Henry was nearly bursting with excitement, but before Regina could leave him, Emma though to be best to introduce Killian, since he would be a part in Henry’s life from now on.  
Emma turned and gave him a look, and in a flinch he was right by her side.  
“Regina, this is Killian, Killian, Regina.” She introduced them. They shook hands.  
Regina looked behind them into the apartment, as to figure out their situation. When she couldn’t she just began:  
“And you two are living together yes?”  
“Yes, and we’re also newly married!” Killian chimed in. He seemed to be particularly excited to tell people that part!  
Henry’s face lit up, and nearly in unison with Regina, they let out a “What?!” in very, very different tones.  
“Yeah, we’re married, it was a secret sorta thing, just happened, I’ll tell you later,” she told her boy, then back at Regina “but don’t worry, nothing changes, only now Killian will be going out with us and things like that.”  
“Well, congratulations to you two then!” Regina directed at them, before bending down to Henry’s eye-line and telling him:  
“And you be good, I’ll come pick you up at 8.” and gave him a kiss on the forehead.  
Henry went in the apartment, and immediately started to look around. Regina said bye to them and was on her way.  
When they closed the door and turned around, Henry was standing there, staring up at them.  
“So, Killian!” he said to Killian, his face straight. “You and my mum are married?” he asked him.  
Killian felt a little awkward, this was a first for him, and he wasn’t too sure how to deal with it all. He just decided to not try too hard, of course a kid wouldn’t be best of friends with someone they just met, they had to develop a relationship first.  
“Aye, we got married! Sorry not to invite you lad, we didn’t really invite anyone.” He told the boy, who was still staring up at them.  
“It’s ok! But if you have pictures I wanna see them after!” He then turned around, “And did you guys just move in here? Cos it looks like an Ikea show room!” he announced.  
“Yes, we just moved!” Emma told him, putting her hands on his shoulders and directing him towards the kitchen, “We have been busy, still hadn’t had time to decorate the place.”  
Henry sat down on a stool, and Emma placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of him, while Killian went to join Emma behind the counter.  
“Well, you should, make it more homey!” Henry told them, before looking around the kitchen in front of him.  
“That’s our intention lad!” Killian said to him, while sprinkling some cinnamon in his mug. Henry looked at him with a furrowed brow and Killian immediately stopped what he was doing.  
“I’m sorry lad, your mother likes hers with cinnamon on top, and I thought you would as well, I can make you another one if you want.” He blabbed out to Henry. But Henry just then slowly let out a smile.  
“I like it with cinnamon too! Mum’s usually the one to put it for me, but I’ll get used to having you around!” he told Killian, and Killian was all smiles.

After breakfast, they gathered up the snacks and sandwiches Emma had made for their day and were on their way to the docks. Henry didn’t stop talking for one second on the drive over, which was fine with both Emma and Killian. He would normally tell Emma all about what had happened since the last time they got together, and besides from keeping them from talking, this was an opportunity for Killian to get to know the boy a little more.

“Welcome to the ‘Alice-Rose’” Killian announced as they came face to face with a yacht boat. Henry didn’t even think twice before stepping onto it, while Emma was a bit more weary.  
“Hey kid be careful! I don’t want this to be our last trip together!” she shouted out to him, “God knows she’ll tell me off when you tell her about the boat.” she then muttered under her breath, unaware that Killian was right there behind her.  
“I’ll make sure he wears a lifejacket love, I’ll even do a little demonstration before we set off.” Killian told Emma, gave her a smile and proceeded to follow the boy further in the boat.  
“Okay! Listen up!” Killian said a while later, he had already given Henry a lifejacket, put their snacks in the kitchenette, and prepared the boat for sail.  
“You can call me Captain Jones,” he then got a captain’s hat that resided beside the wheel and put it on, getting a giggle from Henry, who was sitting next to his mum, “And Henry is my lieutenant!” He then told the boy, giving him a little pin, an anchor with rope around it and the word _LIEUTENANT_ written in cursive under it. Henry pinned it to his coat, and Emma couldn’t deny that the smile on the boy’s face was more radiant than she’s seen in a while!

Killian took them all around the shore, Henry loving every second of it, as Killian had asked him to go help him on the wheel, while Emma just sat on the sun watching her little man’s eye shine with everything Killian was telling him. He would have a boat phase after this! Everything would be boat themed for a while and Emma knew it! And didn’t mind at all!  
Some time later, Killian stopped them in an island dock, where they could rest for a while, and decided to have lunch while docked.  
Emma headed down to the kitchen while Killian anchored them, Henry followed her.  
“You can stay with Killian kid, I got this!” she told him.  
Henry just scrunched his nose at her and began to look around for plates while Emma took the things out of the fridge.  
“I like him mom.” Henry then let out, sitting on the narrow sofa next to the kitchenette.  
Emma smiled at him.  
“It is weird that you got married so fast, without telling anyone, but I like him.” He was looking at his mom, waiting for her to give him an explanation, or something, cause even though no one was invited to the wedding, he thought that she would at least text him about it. It was their thing, they texted whenever something big happened. He got straight As? Texted her. She went on a date with someone? She texted him. His step-mom got him a new comic he’s been wanting for a while? She knew about it! So he was a bit upset that she didn’t text for this.  
Emma sensed it, so she sat beside him.  
“Hey kid, I know I didn’t tell you about it, I’m sorry, really am. It’s just, it was really fast, we met and got on real good and we just decided then to get married.” She hated lying to him, so she would stick to the truth as much as possible! “We’ll eventually have some sort of get together, and you’ll be the first one to know!” She gave him a kiss on the head, he smiled at her.  
“Okay!” he seemed more okay with it now, “And, it’s silly but we feel like a family.” He said in a low tone, looking up at his mom, whose eyes widened beyond belief, and he thought he said something wrong.  
“I mean it feels nice with the three of us, just playing around and relaxing like we were.” he was desperately trying to explain himself. Emma gave him a hug, pulling him very close.  
Emma only experienced what it was to have a family when she was in her mid-teens, and her son had told her how sometimes he doesn’t feel at home with Regina, and so for him to feel like that with her and this guy was beyond her explanation, but she was glad he finally had that.  
“We’re all set up there.” Killian’s voice came from the stairs. “Oh, sorry, I’m interrupting.” He announced as he took the last step to find Emma and Henry in an embrace.  
Emma let Henry go and turned to Killian, before he could head up again.  
“It’s ok, we were just getting food to bring up.”  
“I’ll help then.” Killian told her, giving Henry a smile as he headed up to the deck.


	10. Chapter 10

The deck ended up looking very cozy. Killian had rummaged around and found some blankets and pillows, so they covered the deck floor with them and stayed there, had lunch and now were all just enjoying the sea and sky. Henry was snuggled next to his mum, her arms around the boy, who was fast asleep. According to him, he didn’t sleep much the night before due to excitement, and the morning on the boat was very eventful, so he was knackered already! Killian was sitting beside Emma, admiring her for a bit too long.  
She smiled at him when she caught him looking at her.  
“Sorry love, didn’t mean to stare.” he told her, feeling a little weird. She didn’t say anything, just continued to look at him.   
Killian took a deep breath and reached inside his jeans pocket, and pulled something out. He shifted closer to Emma, her gaze now less playful and more serious, wondering what he was doing.  
His arm was now grazing Emma’s, and he opened his hand revealing a ring. A simple gold band, with a small gem embedded on it. The ring was something different entirely, it wasn’t a clear cut, smooth hoop. It was a bit distorted, almost looked like someone carefully bent a small twig and painted it gold. The small gem embedded in it looked like fire. Looked like someone encased flames from the brightest fire on the universe into a small stone and infused it with golden twigs, binding the ends together for all eternity.   
Emma found herself dumbstruck. The emotions running through her body and mind made no logical sense whatsoever, the whole happening made no sense whatsoever.   
“Calm down Swan, I’m not proposing.” Killian then muttered amusingly, in a soft, quiet voice. Emma was still looking at him with bewilderment.   
“You are doing an absurd favour for me, never would I have guessed that a complete stranger would save me in the way you did.” Her face softened a bit, he noticed, and the stiffness in his shoulders soften along with his smile. “I know we are not married for real, but, I would like you to have this ring.” He held it up to her. Emma just shook her head.

She didn’t know how to react. On one hand, it would be good for them to have a visual representation that they were married, most couples wore rings, and in the immigrations office, it would make a hell of a difference. On the other hand, over the past few weeks, Emma’s feelings towards the once stranger had become very blurry and fuzzy, she didn't understand it, she saw him as a friend, but every now and then he would do something and Emma’s heart would start to race like never before. It was safe to say her feeling for Killian were complicated. Although one thing was certain though, she would never act on it, no matter what, their relationship would always be nothing but what is was now. She was certain.

“It was my grandma’s ring, my grandad gave it to her shortly after they got together, when he came back from a job in Spain. He made it himself. The story goes that he was missing my grandma’s company, and when mining, he found this stone, and it reminded him of her fiery personality and how she lit up his life, so he made her this ring. She then gave it to my mother, who was more superstitious.” Killian had a longing look in his eyes, talking about his family. He glanced up at a frozen in place Emma every once in a while, but kept his attention mainly on the ring as he continued: “According to my mum, this is a sphalerite gemstone, and it is very rare. My grandparents didn’t know this at the time, they just thought it was pretty! My mum did a lot of research on the gem, and she would tell us that it had pretty high grounding and healing energies, and she wore it for that reason. It helped her stay grounded in her reality and heal old wounds that otherwise would still affect her.” He was on a roll, it seemed like whenever he talked about his mum, he was a complete different person. You could see love radiating from his chest and joy from his face. It never lasted long though, as the memories faded and his reality came back to him.  
He looked up at Emma with a shy smile. She gave him a smile and wrapped her hands around his, ring in between the two palms.  
“I can’t Killian. I really can’t. I can see how much this ring means to you and it wouldn’t be fair for me to wear it as part of a favour.” She pushed his hand back against his chest.   
“Emma, I wouldn’t be giving you the ring if I didn't think it was worth it, and besides, it will be just for show right?” He was desperately trying to do something as kind as she was doing for him, and he could find nothing. He hoped that this ring could be a start.  
She saw how sincere his eyes were, and she didn’t want to disappoint him. So, she let go of his hand and extended hers in front of him.  
A huge smile appeared across his face as he slid the ring onto Emma’s finger.   
“Just for show.” She said to him.  
“Just for show.” He repeated at her.  
“Not for real.” She let out, half-heartedly, looking down at her hand, eyes fixed on the flames dancing around the top of the band as the sun shone over it. ‘ _Not for real_ ’ she repeated in her head. Her heart for once didn’t get the same message, as when she looked back at Killian, she had an urge to desperately kiss him. Kiss the hell out of him. Her lips on his, moving frantically but passionately, tongues meeting in the middle then severing quick with each unexpected breath in. A rough, loud, long, fiery kiss. Which should be the last thing in her head in their situation, but was taking every single cell in her body hostage, occupying them with that single fabricated fantasy.   
A loud sigh followed by some incoherent murmur that left the little man asleep next to them, startled Emma, and made her realise how weird she must have looked! Staring into a ring given by a dude whom she was doing a favour for, while he just sat there, next to her, watching her with kind eyes, and her son slept on her other side.  
Killian hadn't said a word, he just eyed Emma, what was going on in his mind he did not want to share, and she figured it might have been something very much like what was going on in hers.   
They held their silence for a while, though both were relived when Emma’s phone suddenly chimed and buzzed.   
“I’ve got to get that.” She told him while carefully placing Henry’s head on something besides her, and standing up to reach the phone, which was still vibrating uncontrollably.

It was her brother. Checking up on her, no doubt.   
“Hi!” she said onto the phone, voice raspier than she would’ve liked it to be.  
“Hi Emma.” Came her brother’s voice, “You ok? You sound a bit weird.”  
“Yeah, yeah, fine, just, was taking a nap.” She told him.  
“Oh, my bad! Want me to call later?”  
“No, no, it’s fine, I can talk!” She said to her brother, while turning around to check on Henry, who was now half-awake and having a conversation with Killian, one that seemed somewhat serious by the look of the Irishman’s face. Her eyes fixated on them, and so did her attention, not making too much sense on what it was that her brother was trying to tell her.   
“Emma! Emma! What do you think? You still there? Emma?!” He was now half shouting into her ear.   
“Yeah, yeah, sorry, I’m here.” She finally answered him.  
“Where are you? Did you hear a word of what I just said?” He was starting to sound annoyed.   
“I’m with Killian and Henry, sorry,” she turned around once again, to keep her mind and thoughts solely on her brother on the other side of the line.  
“Ahh, that explains it, I’ll call you later.” And the annoyance was gone!  
“No, it’s ok, what were you saying?”  
“It’a nothing important, I’ll tell you tomorrow, go have fun with your boys.”   
“C’mon David tell me!” She persisted.  
“Well, me and Mary Margaret may have done something…I dunno! We did something!” He was very chipper!  
“Oh god… D’you need me to bail you out or something? Might not be the best image for you bro…”   
“Always the pessimistic Emma! C’mon! It’s us we’re talking about, it’s something good” She could hear his smile through the phone.  
“Spill then!”   
“We got a dog!”


	11. Chapter 11

She got a (fake) husband, they got a (real) dog. Sounded about right! David and Mary Margaret always did things how they were supposed to be done. Dated for some years, got engaged, got married, now have a dog to then maybe think about having kids, while both have good steady jobs, and a very nice house. While Emma had always been the complete opposite. She had a kid when she was still one herself, her job history was a mess, never had a relationship that lasted for more than two months, and now was committing an illegal crime to help out a total stranger she had met in a bar at the end of a bad day. ‘ _Potato, potahto_ ’ she thought, as her and her boys headed to her brother’s house to meet the newest household member.

 

After the call, she had told Henry, and just the mention of a ‘dog’ alone made him freak out, the fact that Killian then suggested for them to stop there on their way home to meet the dog, made the boy go into ecstasy! So naturally, the car ride insisted of debates, whether the dog was small or big, what breed it was, what the name would be, and so on. The playful bickering was mainly between Killian and Henry. Emma just sat back, in awe of how comfortable they already seemed with each other. This made her heart burst out of her chest with emotions, good ones, she just wasn’t sure which ones! Since Killian had come in to her life, she had felt that more than once, and thought to herself to start noting down the exact moment her heart popped.

 

When they finally parked the car, the doors to the house were already open, adding to Henry’s excitement. He ran in front of Emma and Killian, leaving them alone for the first time since that morning. Killian extended his hand to her. “Hand my love, otherwise the in-laws might get suspicious!” He shot at her, alongside a smile.

She took his hand, and they made their way into the house.

David was sitting on the floor, holding different colorful toys in each hand, moving his arms frantically while the dog jumped and ran trying to get at least one of the things. Henry said a quick hi to Mary Margaret and sat on the floor with his uncle, being engulfed in wet kisses almost immediately. Mary Margaret and David set out in a laughing fit over the scene.

“A dog huh?” Emma directed at Mary Margaret, walking up next to her.

Mary Margaret then looked at Emma, but before she could reach Emma’s eyes, something else caught her attention.

“A ring huh?” She asked Emma, bringing her hand up to have a more detailed inspection of the new accessory. Emma’s cheeks pinked.

“Yeah, the wedding was rushed and he only managed to get the ring today, now, a dog huh?” She so desperately wanted the attention to go back to the dog. And the dog seemed to think the same, as it began to make its way to the two ladies, and Killian, tail fluttering a million miles an hour!

“What’s his name?” Killian then asked, bending down to say hi to the pup.

“Wilby!” Mary Margaret then announced excitedly.

“We got him at the shelter by the precinct.” David then chimed in.

 

The dog, whom had already manages to steal Mary Margarets and David’s hearts, did the same to the other three, making it bittersweet when Emma said they had to go.

“Can we get him a toy or something next time we come?” Henry asked, while back in the car.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not lad!” Killian told him.

 

“Okay, get your stuff ready, Regina will be here in 5.” Emma rushed Henry the moment they entered the apartment.

And precisely 5 minutes later, Regina knocked on the door.

“Hello!” Killian greeted her.

“Hi, is Henry ready to go?” She asked, sternly.

“Would you like to come in?” Killian replied.

“No, that’s fine, I’ll wait for him here.” “Suit yourself.!” (Hey, he tried!) He then left the door opened and went back in, where Emma was saying bye to the boy.

“Thanks for today mom! It was the most fun I’ve had!”

“Hey kid, you have to thank Killian! He’s the one who planned everything!” She told him, and the boy turned to Killian and gave him a big hug. “Thanks Killian!”

“No worried lad! It was my pleasure! Can’t wait till our next adventure!” Killian told the boy, who turned to Emma once more.

“Can I come next week again mom?” He asked her eager.

“Not up to me buddy, you know that!.” She told him, while picking his backpack up and heading to the door.

“Mom,” Henry then directed at Regina, “can I come next weekend again?”

“I have to see Henry, I’m not sure what we’re doing then.” She told him.

“What if, Emma picks me up on Friday and I spend the whole weekend with them?” The kid was bold! “I don-” Regina didn’t even have a chance to finish before Henry started again.

“I really want to and it wouldn’t be hard! Mom can pick me up from school Friday and drop me off Monday! And I’ll send you an update every hour or so. With pictures. And detailed descriptions on what we are doing. Just please, please let me stay the weekend?” Boy, oh boy! The kid knew exactly how to get his way, he was very convincing, plus the eyes! The boy had these eyes you couldn’t even try to deny!

Regina looked defeat, she wanted to say no, but couldn’t. Honest to God, she couldn’t bring herself to say that tiny little two-letter word to her own kid. So she said the other tiny word, the one that made him erupt in pure euphoria.

“I’ll see you Friday then lad!” Killian gave Henry another hug.

“Bye mom! See you Friday! Love you!” He then said to Emma, before turning and skipping his way towards the elevator.

Emma closed the door behind her. Weariness from the day finally hitting her, like a bag of rocks, repeatedly smashing against her body. All she wanted to do was collapse in her bed.

Killian was drained too. You could see it in his eyes, even if he didn’t physically looked it.

“Thank you, for today, Killian, I mean, I haven’t seen that kid that excited in a while!” She told him, stepping closer to him, against her better judgement at that point.

“It was my pleasure Swan, truly!” His voice was soft, and he also found himself stepping closer to her. Suddenly they were in the middle of the living room. Bodies facing one another. Mouths inches apart. Her eyes fixed on his. His fixed on hers.

Neither could move.

Neither wanted to move.

Well, not true. Emma wanted to move. A couple of inches forward. So that their lips would touch.

Killian too.

Both their minds were blank.

Not a thought went though them as their bodies collided in the middle in a beat.

Their eyes closed.

Their lips brushing.

Once.

Twice.

Neither wanting to give in, as they knew what the aftershock would be like.

But neither doing a good job at resisting anymore.

Their foreheads touching, their hearts skipping every other beat, in unison.

Emma was the one to give in.

“Fuck it” she whispered hoarsely and hot into his lips, before pulling him closer and pressing her lips to his, all fiery and passionate. Her hands found their way to the back of his head, and his to her waist, before making their way up, as hers made their way down. His thumb rested on her cheek, rubbing ever so softly, in sync with the movements of their mouths.


	12. Chapter 12

_‘What have I done? Shit of shit what have I done?’_ Forehead plastered on the back of her door, Emma was contemplating what had just happened.

 

She had pulled away from the kiss suddenly, her eyes shooting towards the floor. She didn’t know what exactly made her change her mind but she did. She couldn’t even look Killian in the eyes before rushing to her room and closing the door behind her. 

“No no no nonononono” she kept repeating in a low voice, promoting the forehead resting to forehead banging on the back of the door.  
Killian could hear the slight thump coming from her room, he was still in shock. From the kiss, from her reaction to it, from everything that had just happened in those last 5 minutes.   
He stepped closer to her door, putting his hand on it.  
“Emma?” he called, softly.  
The _thumping_ stopped, but there was no answer.   
The last thing he wanted was for her to be upset with him, so he left it. His forehead found itself resting against the door, hand slid down it.   
He took a deep breath before walking away into his room. 

Neither of them slept that night.  
Both laid awake, minds deep in thought.   
Killian desperately wanted to know what was going on in Emma’s mind, why she suddenly pulled away, why she didn’t answer him, why she kissed him in the first place.   
Emma kept beating herself up for pulling away. She liked him, a lot as it came to her realisation while staring into his eyes for what felt like an eternity. Her heart completely opened as he stared up into her soul, nothing but love and tenderness in his eyes. _‘Why? Why must I be like this?’_ those thoughts haunted her throughout the night. Every time she closed her eyes she would see his. She was doomed!

 

The sun shined through the curtains into the empty living room. An hour and a half till their interview at the immigrations office and neither of them wanted to face the other.   
Killian had gone into the bathroom, and as soon as Emma heard the door close she went out and made some coffee, as quickly as she could. Then bolted straight back into her room.  
When Killian finished his shower, he too got a mug of coffee and disappeared into his room, until they had to leave the apartment or they would be very late!

No words were shared on the elevator ride down. No words were shared as they got into the car. As soon as they started to drive Emma once again gave in.   
“I did some research earlier, I think we should practice some of these questions before we get there just in case.” She still couldn’t look at him. Killian just nodded.   
She read out some of the questions they might get asked, and they came up with an answer for each, keeping the details as close to the truth as they could. She could sense the nervousness coming from him, so she looked over at him.  
“Just relax okay? And don’t guess anything, they don’t like that. If you don’t know something just say you don’t know.” He shot her a quick smile.  
“Also, Henry’s surname is Mills, and his birthday is on August 15th.”

 

“Normally this process takes no less than three months, but your case was so easy we thought we would just be done with it yes?” They had been asked to join a Mr Pollard in his office, they had barely sat down when the man just started talking at them. He was a mean man, very manipulative as well Emma could sense. This would not be easy. 

“Why do you think this will be so easy?” Emma asked, she was having none of his bullshit, she wasn’t in the mood.  
“Well, first of all Miss Swan, you’ve provided us with no evidence of your wedding, apart from the certificate and three? no, four photographs,” he leaned in closer towards her, “no joint bank account, no joint anything to be honest, a lack of photos before the wedding, no evidence of any phone bills showing you two talked before you got married, which is a very big clear red neon sign that screams _FRAUD_ if you ask me, so, easy peasy, just a few questions and you or your ‘husband’ will crack and we’ll be done with this.” Mr Pollard had already asserted his dominance on the situation, the man was good! He knew Killian was weaker than Emma, and so far, he knew exactly what buttons to push to make Emma mad.   
He told them to go wait by the waiting room, where they would be called in for their individual interviews.  
Killian was nervous. So very nervous.   
Emma took his hand, which made him focus on her.   
“Just relax okay? Think of something good, something to cheer you up, don’t let him get to you.” Her voice was soothing to him, although he could see she was nervous too. “We know more about each other than you think, and you know more about me than anyone else bothered to find out, so everything will be more than fine.” She squeezed his hand, just as Mr Pollard called Emma into another room.

The room was much more like an interrogation room at a prison than at an immigrations office, all dark with one table in the middle, voice recorder being the only thing on top of it.  
“Let’s start easy shall we? Please state your name, your date of birth and profession, then your spouse’s name, date of birth and profession.” Pollard told Emma, as he turned the recorder on.  
“My name is Emma Swan, I was born on October 22nd 1983, and I’m a bails-bond person. My husbands name is Killian Jones, he was born on the 21st of October 1981 and is a marine engineer, working with a friend at the marine, repairing boats.” She was as calm as she could as the interview went on.  
“What’s your current address?”  
She answered.  
“Who proposed to whom?”  
“I proposed to him.”  
“What did you do for your spouse’s last birthday?”  
“We went to dinner at a fancy restaurant.”  
“What about for your birthday?”  
“We went to dinner at a fancy restaurant.”  
He eyed her suspiciously, writing something down his pad.  
“Given that his birthday is one day before mine, we went to dinner to celebrate both of them, then enjoyed some more pleasurable activities after.” She stared at him. He scoffed and continued:  
“ Does your spouse have any scars or tattoos?”  
“Yes, one small scar on his cheek, and a bigger one on his arm, no tattoos though.”  
“What about yourself?”  
“No scars as far as I know, one tattoo on my wrist.” She flashed him her wrist.  
“You have a son.”  
“Yes I do, Henry.”  
“He doesn’t live with the two of you.”  
“No, he lives with his adoptive mother, Regina Mills, it’s all in the documents there.”  
“Who pays the bills on the house?”  
“Killian does”  
“Who gets up first in the morning?”  
“Killian does”  
“Is your marriage a fraud?”  
“No”  
“How many TVs are in the house?”  
“One”  
“What is your spouses favourite food?”  
“Uhmm, don’t know, he quite likes pancakes, but changes his minds quite often.”  
“What about yours?”  
“Onion rings, no question.”  
Before he could ask another question:  
“Oh, Killian quite likes chinese food, he likes the fortune cookies”  
“Very well, who sleeps on which side of the bed?”  
“We don’t really have preferences so far, but I usually sleep on the right.”  
“When was your last menstrual cycle?”  
“Finished about a week ago.”  
“Did any of you have a shower this morning?”  
“Yes, he did, I didn't.”  
“Thank you very much Miss Swan, would you like to sign this withdrawing your application since your marriage is obviously a fraud?”  
“No thanks”  
“You sure about that? Sign this and you get parole, nothing more.”  
“I told you, no thanks, I'm not signing anything.”  
“You do know what happens when you get caught don't you Miss Swan? Here in your file, you’ve worked cases like this before.”  
“I do know what happens if a couple gets caught, but given that my marriage is not a fraud, it will not happen to us.”  
“Ok, let’s see if your ‘husband’ thinks the same.”  
He let Emma out through a back door, not allowing her to see Killian before he called him over.

“Okay Mister Jones, your ‘wife’ has basically already given us every we needed but it’s procedure, so, please state you name, date of birth and profession, and the same for your spouse.” He told Killian the second he entered the room, and clicked play on the recorder once again.  
“Uhh, my name’s Killian Jones, I was born on the 21st of October 1981 and I am a marine engineer. My wife, Emma Swan, was born on the 22nd October 1983 and is a bails-bond person.”  
“What is your current address Mr Jones?”  
He answered, shuffling in his chair.  
“Who proposed to whom?”  
“Uhmm, she proposed to me”  
“What did you do for your last birthday?”  
“Uhh, I believe we went to dinner.”  
“What about for your spouses last birthday?”  
“Uhmm, dinner too, same, same dinner, our birthdays are close, uhh, hers on one day, and uhmm, mines on the one before, so we uhmm celebrate it together.”  
“Do you know what happens when we find out you’ve been faking all of this Mr Jones?”  
“Uhmm, yes, yes I do, it’s been made quite clear by quite a lot of people.”  
“So you wanna tell me now that all this is a fraud and we can cut a deal or?”  
Killian looked nervous, he hesitated for a while before drawing in a big breath and answering the man.  
“Nope, I would like to continue with this interview please.” He sounded more confident now.  
“Ok, do you and spouse have any scars or tattoos?”  
“Yes, I have a scar here,” he touched his upper cheek, “and one on my arm,” his hand went to his arm, “and Swan doesn’t have any scars as far as I'm aware, she does have one tattoo, of a flower, on her wrist.”  
“Name, birthday, and where her son lives please”  
“His name is Henry, Henry Mills, his birthday is in August if I'm not mistaken, on the 15th, and he lives with his adoptive mother, Regina.”  
“Who pays the bills of the house?”  
“I do”  
“Who gets up first in the morning?”  
“I do”  
“Who wants to admit that their marriage is a fraud?”  
“It's not”  
“How many TVs are in your house?”  
“One”  
“What is your favourite food?”  
“Dunno, quite like a lot of things, if I had to pick one, Chinese.”  
“What about your spouses?”  
“Again, don’t know, I do know that she likes cinnamon with her hot chocolate though.”  
“Uhmm, interesting,” he sneered and wrote something down before continuing: “Who sleeps on either side of the bed?”  
“We don’t have sides.”  
“When was your wife's last menstrual cycle?”  
“Uhmm, I believe she finished some time last week?”  
“Is that a question Mr Jones? I'm not supposed to know that sir, you are.”  
“No, no, not a question, she finished last week.”  
“Did any of you have a shower this morning?”  
“Yes, I did.”  
“Would you like to sign this withdrawing your application since your marriage is obviously a fraud? Your ‘wife’ already did.”  
“No thank you”  
“Thank you Mr Jones.”


End file.
